


the life span of young love

by hongpikachu



Category: Produce 101 (TV)
Genre: Angst, But they still love anyway, Established Relationship, Hanahaki AU, M/M, Pining, They're too young to be in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 14:19:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11556975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hongpikachu/pseuds/hongpikachu
Summary: How long does young love last?





	the life span of young love

**Author's Note:**

> i would like to thank jazmine for sending me the pic of euiwoong with flowers (? or was it a candy wrapper?) on his mouth!! i got really inspired and i love angst so hello!
> 
> comments and kudos are highly encouraged ^^ please give them (and Minghao, Zhengting, and Seunghyuk) much love~
> 
> edit: i forgot to add the gist of this all so this is Hanahaki AU with a twist wherein you forget everything about the person you love(d) after you get the surgery

The coat over Euiwoong’s shoulders feels a lot lighter compared to the feeling of his sinking heart as he trudges on the snowy pathway. Lights have glimmered on the streets and the harmless carols being played on the streets seemed to seep through his nerves little by little like the snow particles that slowly land and melt on his bit-too-oversized shoes. The doorknob was icy cold that seeped through his woven mittens, but the inside of the house he stepped in was a degree warmer. It wasn’t the most comforting, but it was warm.

 

Cackling firewood resonates through the small apartment along with the gentle snoring of a figure snuggled underneath a blanket, limbs in different uncomfortable-looking positions just to accommodate the space of the cramped antique couch. Just as he was about to open his mouth to nag at the other, he notices the bowl placed on the table along with different plates of food. There were two similar-looking empty plates on the sides: one untouched and the other with stains of sauce.

 

 

Euiwoong was much too much a sucker for kindness.

 

\--

 

The blanket pools at Hyungseob’s feet and he wakes up next to a frosted window with his body surrounded with thermal packs. None of them really had much gold in the pot, solely relying on the multiple jobs they take in alternating schedules. The morning is just like the usual, finding Euwioong lying next to him looking prim and proper as ever if it weren’t for the apron he forgot to take off. It wasn’t a surprise, as the smell of cooked spicy noodles filled their room.

 

He also doesn’t miss two kettles of boiling water: one for his tea and the other for the bath he’s about to take. If there was anything that Hyungseob feels for Euiwoong greatly, it would be respect. Even though he was younger by a few years, he managed to become an older brother for the former, and Hyungseob would probably be found dead on the streets like kids who have been abandoned by their parents that have sunken down low in poverty.

 

Hyungseob thinks of this each morning, and he smiles while heading off to school.

 

\--

 

“Isn’t it your day off today?” The younger of the two hears as he was about to put on his shoes and head outside for his first shift of the day. The winter was calmer than from the past years, and he tells himself that excuse when he can actually feel the heat of his own blood circulating on his own two hands within his pockets.

 

“New employee today. Foreign. Needs someone to teach him.” His words were rushed as he tries to cut his sentences short, feet itching to take long strides away from the house to get some fresh (and very cold) air. The frustration of not making it outside before the older arrives was getting to him, and it takes more strength for him to suppress his emotions.

 

“Get home as early as you can, alright?”

 

He tries not to take his time with absorbing the words, responding with a simple grunt and nod, waving a hand goodbye without having to look back. His footsteps take him farther and farther until he’s reached the town park just a few blocks from their place. Deep down, he felt his stomach drop at the thought of having lied to his hyung, but he knows he had to. Especially when he feels the petals clumped in his pocket.

 

The pink petals look pretty on his palm decorated with white bits of snow that soon melt, forming darker patches on the pastel canvas.

 

Euiwoong has never been this scared for his life.

 

\--

 

“Are you awake?” A hot breath tickles on his nape and he’s suddenly hyperaware of the way his shoulders were too stiff and how the mattress dipped at the weight of another figure settling beside him. The hand placed over his was cold, seeing as Euiwoong forgot his mittens again to which Hyungseob internally sighs. He sucks in a breath and braces himself for a conversation, but his voice betrays him as he can’t find the strength to give out a reply.

 

Nights like this usually made him feel ecstatic despite the living conditions they’ve been given. Having a companion when living away from family was something comforting, but Euiwong was his sense of home. Was. Now it was all too familiar and he doesn’t realize if all this was just boredom that builds up through time, or if it was really possible to wake up one day and think that you don’t love someone anymore.

 

With what little strength and much guilt he holds in him, the older closes his eyes, trying to drown in the sound of the soft snores and little rustles that he’s been used to hearing.  He tries to ignore the strange churning sensation on his stomach, sick of the thoughts his conscience throws at him.

 

The night passes and he’s in deep sleep when the coughing happens.

 

\--

 

It was late when Euiwoong realizes why relationships are exclusive to grown-ups, regardless of how mature you seem to be with yourself and with others. Dealing with problems like survival and finances are one thing, but having to deal with uncontrollable circumstances and event (like feelings, he thinks) are of a different story.

 

Of course it’s a no-brainer that the initial stages of finding out that your current lover doesn’t feel the same would be of betrayal, hurt, and denial. And if he would act his age, he probably would have at least lashed out the instant it happened, but Euiwoong wasn’t one for theatrics and drama, so when he catches Hyungseob on the streets of Hongdae conversing with a classmate, he wasn’t the least bit surprised, only hurt by the amount of petals threatening to fall off his lips.

 

It wasn’t spring but cherry blossoms have started to bloom inside of him. And he would know, of all people. He recognizes the eyes that looked at others.

 

Those eyes looked at him the same way two years ago.

 

\--

 

Whatever compelled Hyungseob to stay up late one eventful night was still a mystery.

 

It was solved when it was already four in the morning and there was still no sign of Euiwoong.

 

Despite the fact that his feelings were fading, the care that he had for the younger has always been genuine since the first day. So when he sees the text message flash before his very eyes, he forgets to lock the door while sprinting to the address.

 

\--

 

There was something about the scent of disinfectant in hospitals that Hyungseob would never get accustomed to. Today, the visit seemed more revolting as he takes long strides on the halls, making his way to the Emergency Room while carrying the weight of the anxiety and anticipated regret on his shoulders.

 

_I should have been honest with him._

_This was all my fault._

_If only I tried harder to love him._

 

All the thoughts overwhelmed him that he was only brought back to the present when his head bumped on the glass door with a white and red light flashing on the top of it all. Peeking at whatever he could, he caught glimpse of figures donned in scrubs and a light too bright that it blocked the sight of his lover’s figure.

 

It was only when he saw the trail of petals on the pathway that he felt a sharp blow on his stomach.

 

\--

 

Euiwoong didn’t expect to wake up to wearing an hospital gown with a needle on the back of his hand. The loud beeping made his head pound that he can’t help but grown. As to how or why he landed in the hospital bed when he was supposed to be on his way home, he couldn’t remember.

 

His vision still wasn’t the best and thankfully a nurse was on standby to provide him his glasses, and finally he was able to notice the belongings on his side. The guilt of having to inform his parents about hospital bills made him purse his lips, but he had to do so if he wanted to get discharged without a stained record.

 

“Thank goodness, you’re alive!” He heard an exclamation and probably would have died of a heart attack when he sees a figure scrambling up from the room’s couch. The boy was slightly taller, probably a few years older as he still had youthful features. In all honesty, he tried not to seem like a rude person to this person, who probably has been a distant relative of some sort, or probably the landlady’s grandson whom she sent to be a guardian for Euiwoong (albeit still being underage). But he was still a curious child after all that he throws away all hesitation to ask.

 

“I’m sorry but who are you?”

 

“Sorry, I must have been in the wrong room.” It takes a lot for Hyungseob to turn back and leave, even if he feels his heart shatter on the ground.

 

**_3 Months Later_ **

 

“I’d like a venti americano, please.” Hyungseob says while paying more attention to the books that were about to fall off from his grip. He knows it’s too early for a caffeine fix but he had to or else he would run out of seats during noontime and he can’t afford that when he needs to study in peace (as he can’t do so in the dorm room as Zhengting was practicing for his recital).

 

He hears his name being repeated by an awfully familiar sound and when he looks up, he’s met with eyes behind round-rimmed spectacles that bore so much innocence and determination. “Sorry but we don’t serve caffeinated drinks to younger students. Would a mocha-flavored smoothie be alright?” The words were all jumbled with this reunion that all he could do was nod, not noticing how or when he handed his payment and went for a vacant seat by the window.

 

A scoff left his lips, as if to mock himself, when he sees the view outside. It was the peak of spring and there were locals and tourists enjoying the scenic view of a cherry blossom garden, stopping once in a while to take photos.

 

“The cherry blossoms are beautiful this year, don’t you think?”

 

Hyungseob didn’t have to look behind to see that his drink was served and the cashier was talking to him, nor did he have to turn around to see the smile that causes is guilt to resurface. He can only nod and spew out a small ‘yeah’ from his lips in agreement.

 

“Such a shame they don’t last really long.”

 

_Yeah. Such a shame we didn’t last long…_

**Author's Note:**

> cherry blossoms do symbolize life's fragility and beauty, about how life is beautiful yet so short, and incorporated it to the love that seob and woong shared in this fic :)


End file.
